The following theses have been submitted to the Faculty of Science Graduate Office and are available for review by any member of the University during the display period only. The display period is the time between the posting of the thesis and the examination date. Thesis defences at the University of Waterloo are also open to the campus community.
Spring 2025 PhD Defences
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Louis PFEIFER
Title: The impact of wastewater effluent and enantiomers of venlafaxine on darters (𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢 spp.) in the Grand River
Supervisor: Paul Craig
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 12:30:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Carina FILICE
Title: A Biophysical Study on the Effects of Bacterial Infection and Neuroprotective Molecules in Relation to Alzheimer’s Disease
Supervisor: Zoya Leonenko
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Debora ANDRADE PEREIRA
Title: Impacts of temperature variation on duckweed population growth and distribution in a changing climate
Supervisor: Kim Cuddington
Department: Biology
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 2:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Zach MERINO
Title: Simulated spin qubits in silicon quantum dots and enhancement of InGaAs photodetectors
Supervisor: Jonathan Baugh
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: QNC 2101 and via MS TEAMS
Friday, June 6, 2025 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Ejaaz MERALI
Title: Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations of Rydberg Atom Arrays
Supervisor: Roger Melko
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Mostafa HOSSEINI
Title: Gas hydrate formation and dissociation: predictive, thermodynamic, and dynamic models
Supervisor: Yuri Leonenko
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Friday, June 20, 2025 at 8:30:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Allison LYNCH
Title: Visual Standards in Aviation: Implications for Safety, Performance, and Training Assessment
Supervisor: Elizabeth Irving and Suzanne Kearns
Department: School of Optometry and Vision Science
Location/Method: OPT 341 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Rahul KARUTURI
Title: Novel 1,4-Diazepane Derivatives as Amyloid Beta (Aβ) Aggregation Inhibitors
Supervisor: Praveen P Nekkar Rao
Department: School of Pharmacy
Location/Method: PHR 7007 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Special Notes:Held Without Public Disclosure
All audience members are required to sign an NDA to participate. Please email Science Dissertations with the Candidate’s Name to request an NDA.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 at 2:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Justin SHMORDOK
Title: Exploration, Synthesis, and Characterization of Bioinspired Iron–Imide and Iron–Amide Clusters
Supervisor: Sonny Lee
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: MC 4063
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Shuwei LIU
Title: Learning the Quantum, Scrambling the Universe
Supervisor: Robert Myers and Beni Yoshida
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
April 2025 PhD defenses
Friday April 4, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Carson KINNEY
Title: Heat Production and Transfer in Earth’s Continental Crust
Supervisor: Chris Yakymchuk
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: EIT 2053 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 8:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Joanne FERNANDEZ
Title: Grafting of Starch Nanoparticles with Polymers
Supervisor: Mario Gauthier
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: STC 2002 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 8:30:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Asiya JABEEN
Title: Short-Term Effect of Diffusion Optics Technologyᵀᴹ (DOT) Contrast Management Spectacle Lenses on Ocular Biometrics and Lag of Accommodation in Emmetropic Children
Supervisor: Lyndon Jones
Department: School of Optometry and Vision Science
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Laura NEARY
Title: Development and application of aquatic ecosystem monitoring approaches for the Peace-Athabasca Delta and Whooping Crane Nesting Region of Wood Buffalo National Park
Supervisor: Roland Hall and Brent Wolfe
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Spring 2025 MSc Defences
Friday, May 2, 2025 at 9:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Jiahao ZHAO
Title: Hepatitis D virus among immigrants in Canada: an estimation of the prevalence and a cost-effectiveness analysis of screening and treatment
Supervisor: William WL Wong
Department: School of Pharmacy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Friday, May 2, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Arnold KWOK
Title: Characterization of Microbial Communities of the Utikuma Region Study Area (Alberta, Canada)
Supervisor: Kirsten Müller
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266
Monday, May 5, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Christian VIERNES
Title: Monitoring Ultrafast Lattice Dynamics in 2D Materials
Supervisor: German Sciaini
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: C2 361
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Noel SOOGRIM MSc Candidate: Alexandra SINIK
Title: Investigating Changes in Mercury Concentrations in Small-Bodied Fishes Following Mine-Related Flooding in the Canadian Arctic
Supervisor: Heidi Swanson
Department: Biology
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
Title: Characterizing the effects of temperature variation on metabolic capacity in darter fish (𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢 spp.)
Supervisor: Paul Craig
Department: Biology
Location/Method: STC 2002
April 2025 MSc defences
Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 2:30:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Shaeer MOEED
Title: Path integral and qubit encoding techniques for quantum simulations of discrete planar rotor lattices
Supervisor: Pierre-Nicholas Roy
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: C2 361
Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Bharat KUCHHAL
Title: Towards Optical Simulation of Topological Phenomena with Ring Resonators
Supervisor: Kevin Resch and Chris Wilson
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Monday, April 14, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Severyn BALANIUK
Title: A Machine Learning Model for Trapped-ion State Classification
Supervisor: Roger Melko
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: QNC 2101
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 2:00:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Merrik KOBARFARD
Title: Development and Optimization of Analytical methods for Sulfolane and BTEX Quantification in Environmental samples
Supervisor: Tadeusz Gorecki
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: C2 361 and Remote via MS TEAMS
Monday, April 28, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
MSc Candidate: David Felipe TELLO YEPES
Title: Artificial selection of 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘪 MBI-RS3 towards enhanced nitrogen fixation in presence of ammonia and oxygen
Supervisor: Trevor Charles
Department: Biology
Location/Method: STC 2002
Special Notes:Held Without Public Disclosure
All audience members are required to sign an NDA to participate. Please email Science.Dissertations@uwaterloo.ca with the Candidate’s Name to request an NDA.
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Christina LAM
Title: Methane consumption by a landfill cover soil under variable soil moisture and temperature conditions
Supervisor: Fereidoun Rezanezhad
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS